Devices used to administer a fluid inside the anatomy of a patient are well known. For example, hypodermic needles, catheters, and the like are often used to deliver medication and other fluids to targeted sites within the body. In many instances, catheters are preferred because they can deliver fluid to a particular site over a period of time. Since catheters are generally made of a flexible plastic material, a needle is typically used to insert the catheter within a patient. For example, certain catheters, generally referred to as “through-the-needle” catheters, often require stiff, hollow introducer needles for placement within the anatomy. Thus, the catheter can be inserted through the needle after the needle is located at the targeted site. Typically, such introducer needles have sharp tips that may damage tissue and/or nerves during their delivery into a body, thus causing discomfort for the patient.
Another type of catheter, generally referred to as an “over-the-needle” (OTN) catheter, includes a catheter coaxially mounted onto a needle. In this type of catheter, the catheter and the needle may be inserted into a patient together. Once the catheter and the needle are located at the targeted site, the needle can be removed, leaving the catheter in place. Thus, OTN catheters can be purposely directed to an exact location without the need to thread the catheter within a patient. Accordingly, OTN catheters have gained increased attention in regard to delivering anesthetic medication, for example, for the purposes of nerve block.
For example, some regional anesthesia delivery techniques include placing an OTN catheter having a nerve stimulator needle into a patient near a nerve to be blocked and then advancing the needle until the target nerve is reached as determined by observing muscle contractions in response to the current flow through the stimulator needle. Such nerve stimulation assemblies require a special stimulator needle coupled with a stimulator wire that can be expensive to manufacture. In addition, many medical procedures require the use of an OTN catheter with and without stimulation, therefore, a physician may have to purchase multiple OTN catheters for a single medical procedure, thereby further increasing costs.
As such, the medical art is continuously seeking new and improved OTN catheters that address the aforementioned problems. Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an OTN catheter assembly having an improved needle hub that reduces manufacturing costs, yet still provides stimulation capability.